Kuragari Miyko POV:
"Melissa! We're home." Ogami shouted, hanging his coat on a peg. I only then realised he was wearing a thick, black dog collar.
A middle aged woman appeared around the door.
"Ahhhh Shirou, Michiru! Your home! Breakfast will be in half an hour... oh and who is this you brought with you?" The woman spoke with a smile.
"My name is Kuragari Miyko." I bowed respectfully.
"Melissa, Kuragari will be staying here at the beastman co-op." Michiru spoke excitedly.
"A new arrival? Well, welcome to the city and welcome to your new home!" She spoke cheerfully and came and gave me a hug.
I stood there surprised for a moment before wrapping my arms around the woman and hugged her back.
"Let's show you to your room, and get you settled in. How does that sound?" She said pulling back and cupping my hands in hers.
"Yes... that would be amazing! Thank you!" I said before she turned and walked up the stairs. We walked along the corridor upstairs before walking up another flight of stairs to the roof.
She opened what looked like a shed on the rooftop, but was actually a guest room. A bed, book shelf full of books, desk, bathroom, and sofa with a coffee table stared back at me.
"Sorry, it's not a lot." Melissa apologised.
"No... I love it!" I smiled at her. She smiled at me and gave me a blue fluffy blanket.
"Hey Kuragari! I'm just across the roof! Looks like you and me are gonna be roof buddies!" Michiru laughed.
I laughed too.
"Come down then your ready, dear." Melissa spoke.
"Thank you ma'am." I said nodding. She smiled, turned on her heel and scurried off.
Closing the door round, I took my backpack off my shoulders. I set it on my bed and withdrew hoodies, t-shirts, jeans and shorts. The last items I withdrew was, a grey blanket with a mix of paw prints and hoof prints on it, a toy husky with sewn on antlers, and my photo album. The only items that I could save from the fire.
I put the toy on my bed, somewhere I doubt it could be seen. I put the photo album in a draw on the bed side cabinet.
I sat on the bed. The mattress was soft, I knew I would be comfortable here. I took my phone out of my pocket and switched it on.
A load of notifications came flooding through. Pinging rung throughout the room. Most News app notifications and texts from old friends:
News: Abnormal Beastman sighted in small village in Japan.
News: What is this new beastman sighted?
News: Any information on the beast must call the police station immediately and do not engage.
Zane: you waste of space.
Jack: you're a beast!
❤️Girlfriend❤️: Breaking up with you, you are a monster. Never contact me again.
The last notification stung. I felt tears pricking my eyes. All the things she told me... were a lie.
She promised to love me forever. I guess all good things come to an end. I wonder how long until this ends, and I get kicked out for what my beastman is. All I can do now is keep it a secret... again.
I wiped the tears now flooding down my cheeks. I went to the message and saw the small print under the message.
'This user has blocked you'
Again, feeling the tears threatening to fall, I blinked them away, denying them to fall.
Going into her profile, I changed her name from Girlfriend to her name and deleting the contact all together. I cleared all the contacts with everyone I knew so I had no one left.
I shut my phone off again and put it on my cabinet.
I went down stairs to the living room. Michiru was sat upside down in an armchair playing a game on her phone. Ogami was sat reading a newspaper and a man was watching the news on tv.
I stood in the doorway for a moment looking at the news. The news presenter, a leopard beastman, filled the screen. She spoke. Ogami looked at the screen too.
"A strange beastman animal has been spotted in areas of Japan. The locals say it is a beast and is unpredictable. Could this animal have a case of Nirvasyl Syndrome making the beast wild?
Pictures show an animal with a long tail and horns. Human police have warned people not to engage. Anima city police are advising locals to do the same. Yuji Tachiki, head of police, reports."
The screen flashed onto a picture of the man from earlier.
"Yes... I.. I advise to keep your distance until police have custody over this animal. We don't know how dangerous they actually are or if he has got Nirvasyl Syndrome. Just keep your distance and call the police immediately if come in contact. Don't engage, leave this to the professionals."
I looked away from the screen hurt by their words. I'm not a monster. As young as I could remember I have always had that name. Devil and beast came naturally with the name Monster.
My mother always gave me a warning about what the humans would do if they found out about me. But I always remained optimistic about how humans would feel about me. That little hope that some day, people won't try and pierce a steak through me. I guess I was wrong.
"Hey Kuragari! Are you settled in already?" Michiru asked.
"Yeah... I only had a few things to unpack. Not a lot." I said sighing.
I went to the kitchen. The woman from earlier was rushing round to get breakfast underway.
"Hello dear! Is everything to your liking?" The woman asked me.
"Yes ma'am." I said smiling.
"Please dear call me Melissa." She smiled warmly.
"Thank you for your hospitality." I said bowing my head again.
"No problem dear, we are no strangers for taking new comers in. Michiru came to us about a year ago now." Melissa spoke. "Oh dear, I forgot to ask you, what is your beastman form! Are you okay with bacon?"
"I'm an omnivore to be honest. I can eat bacon but my preferred dish is fried tofu and boiled eggs. I get a bit nauseous if u eat too much meat or too many vegetables. Tofu and animal made products that doesn't come directly from the flesh sits nicely for me." I explained.
"Yes dear! I will grab you some Tofu later!" Melissa said smiling. I was quite a lot taller than the plump woman.
"Thank you so much." I thanked her. I left the kitchen and went back into the living room.
I sniffed the air. It smelt like roses and lavender. There were a lot of pictures lining the walls. Mostly of Melissa and the man, but there was a picture of all four of them hanging on the wall.
"That picture was taken three months ago. Marking the Autumnus Anulue." The man in the armchair spoke.
"The Autumnus Anulue?" I asked cocking my head to the left and lifting my eyebrows slightly.
"The beginning of Autumn of course." The man spoke.
"Sorry sir, I have never celebrated anything like that before."
"You haven't?" Ogami asked lowering his news paper from his face.
"No... I only moved to a Japan 6 years ago. Before then; I lived in a cabin in the woods near a small village with my mother and father." I said sitting down just next to Ogami but keeping the distance and he did just try to imprison me and I don't completely trust him.
"You must've heard the tale of the Silver wolf." The Man spoke.
*flashback*
"Careful Kuragari" my mother called after me as I ran through the woodland.
"Listen to your mother my little stag. We don't want the Silver wolf having to save you!" My dad said in his caring voice.
"Daddy, who's the silver wolf?" I asked running up to my father and grabbing his leg.
"The silver wolf is.." my father began but a arrow coming out of a bush distracted him. It missed his neck by a hair width.
"RUN KURA RUN!" My dad shouted turning into his beastman form. My mother scooped me up in her arms and ran through the wood.
"Daddy!" I called looking over mothers shoulder reaching out to him.
"Look ahead Kura. Never look back." My mother instructed me. Tears flooded down my face.
"Daddy..." I sniffled.